Mr. Donald Trump, a former US President, has spoken up, denying allegations making the rounds that he instigated the Capitol riots that claimed five lives and injured many.
The former US leader equally claimed that the US senate has no power to impeach him, noting that he “holds no public office from which he can be removed.”
On the 6th of January, 2021, alleged Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overthrow November 2020 US presidential election result.
They were dispersed by the joint efforts of security agents, who sustained varying degrees of injuries.
About 50 police officers were said to have been hospitalized after the attack at the Capitol.
However, on Tuesday, 2 February, 2021, Trump denied encouraging his supporters to invade US Capitol, arguing that the Senate doesn’t have the right to hold a trial over his impeachment by the House of Representatives.
In a 14-page answer to the sole article of impeachment against him (incitement of insurrection) Trump’s lawyers in the filing reject the idea that he “incited the crowd to engage in destructive behavior” when he spoke near the White House shortly before the Jan. 6 riot.
Lawyers Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen according to New York Post, wrote: “It is denied that the phrase ‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore’ had anything to do with the action at the Capitol as it was clearly about the need to fight for election security in general, as evidenced by the recording of the speech”.
The filing further says Trump didn’t intend “to interfere with the counting of Electoral votes” during the joint session of Congress that later certified President Biden’s victory and had the right “to express his belief that the election results were suspect.”
“Like all Americans, the 45th President is protected by the First Amendment,” his lawyers wrote.
“Indeed, he believes, and therefore avers, that the United States is unique on Earth in that its governing documents, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, specifically and intentionally protect unpopular speech from government retaliation.”
The filing further claims that the Senate “lacks jurisdiction over the 45th President because he holds no public office from which he can be removed.”
Removal from office is the only “active remedy allowed … under our Constitution,” making Trump’s impeachment “moot and a non-justiciable question,” his lawyers wrote.
